Newton Mearns care home told to make urgent improvements following inspection

A care home for older people south of Glasgow has been told to make urgent improvements in the care provided to vulnerable residents.

The Care Inspectorate has served a formal Improvement Notice on Greenlaw Grove Care Home in Newton Mearns following an inspection which raised serious concerns.

The notice lists six areas which require urgent improvement, including the way medicine is kept and administered; staff numbers, training and registration; maintaining the hygiene, health and wellbeing of residents; and resident’s care plans.

The Improvement Notice says management at the care home must “demonstrate to the Care Inspectorate that members of staff are appropriately deployed as necessary to meet the health, welfare and safety needs of service users at all times.”

It also says the care home’s management must demonstrate that staff at the care home have received training in several areas including manual handling, infection control, stress and distress and adult support and protection.

A spokesperson for the Care Inspectorate said: “The Improvement Notice we have issued clearly lays out the improvements we need to see so that the care provided to residents improves quickly.

“We will visit this care home again soon to check on progress and if we are not satisfied that the matters raised are being addressed urgently we will not hesitate to take further action."

A spokesman for Greenlaw Grove Care Home said: “The results of the recent inspection were far below the high standards we have consistently delivered for our residents over many years and we have taken swift action to put things right.

“We are working closely with the Care Inspectorate and have already made very significant progress. As well as changes to the senior management at the home, including the appointment of a new, experienced general manager, we have already undertaken intensive staff training and have significantly increased staffing levels as part of an ongoing action plan.”

The service is run by Thistle Healthcare and can cater for 113 elderly residents with a range of conditions, including dementia and sensory impairment. The home is a modern facility and includes a café, hairdressing salon, cinema room, library and a multifaiths room.